Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Lidstrom became the first European defenseman and eighth overall to reach 1,000 points, assisting on two goals in his teams 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.  Lidstrom is a six-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman.  Last nights game also showed that forward Pavel Datsyuk is beginning the year the same way he closed out last season, on the injury list.  He is showing that even though he is considered one of the best two way players in the league, you have to be healthy to be effective.  Detroit desperately needs Datsyuk to get on track to make their offense as potent as it can be.  With the tough competition in the western conference this year the aging Wings will need all the help they can get.

Well it seems like the possibility of the NHL playing again in Quebec City is not that far off.  They have announced their  intention to build a new arena in the hopes of bringing back an NHL team and one day hosting the Winter Olympics.  The City’s mayor has hired an engineering firm SNC Lavalin to conduct a feasibility study.  He hopes to see the arena built from 2010 to 2012.  The Mayor expects the arena to cost $400 million, with the city contributing $50 million to the project. He wants the federal and provincial governments to each pony up $175 million under infrastructure programs.  Quebec lost the Nordiques in 1995, when they left to become the Colorado Avalanche who went on to win the Stanley cup in 1996.  The aging Colisee arena has been cited as the main reason for the city’s inability to attract another NHL team.  I hope that the city can get this deal done because it would be awesome for hockey and its fans to have another Canadian team in the league, not to mention the rivalries that would be rekindled.

The Sharks were lead by a balanced scoring attack that saw 6 players score 20+ goals led by their captain Patrick Marleau with 38 goals and sophomore sensation Devin Setoguchi with 31 goals.  Last year also saw a resurgence of both defenseman Dan Boyle tallying 57 points and Rob Blake puting up 45 points especially on the 3rd ranked power play where they combined for 54 points.

Up front this team is fast, deep, and excels in scoring the difficult goals, exemplified by their top scorer Joe Thornton with 86 points.  Big Joe has been dynamic since his trade to the Sharks and will once again be asked to be the team leader on the ice and especially on the power play where he had a team high 11 goals and 35 points.  The team will also expect bigger things from their improving young guns, Setoguchi and Joe Pavleski, who are both restricted free agents at the end of the season and both coming off career seasons last year.

This year, the Sharks’ blueline will be helped dramatically by the continued development of  Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who, at just 22, is entering his fourth NHL season.  The Montreal native took another step forward last season, putting up single-season bests with six goals, 30 assists and a plus-15 rating.

Once again this team will be evaluated on the playoff success.  We all know they are talented and should win the Pacific Division for the third straight year.  If they come out slow, or are not playing to expectations right before the trade deadline, don’t be surprised if Doug Wilson pulls the trigger on trading Patrick Marleau or Evgeni Nabokov as the GM has said change is needed for this team that constantly does not live up to their potential.

Theo Fleury is meeting with commissioner Gary Bettman and his deputy, Bill Daly seeking reinstatement to the NHL.  He applied for reinstatement, but Fleury hasn’t completed the drug rehab program he was suspended to in 2003, and might not have time to complete it prior to the season.  However, Fleury met with NHL and NHLPA’s substance abuse programs doctors, and they may not force him to complete the program.  In fact I just learned that the NHL has cleared Fleury to join any NHL team for training camp.  Fleury says he’s been sober for four years.  Earlier, there was a rumor that Fleury was signing with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat, but that rumor was debunked.  He will get a invitation to the Calgary Flames camp to show if he has anything left in his tank.

It’s possible that New Jersey Devils center Patrik Elias may miss the start of the season as he recovers from hip/groin surgery.  He had it on June 12 and it takes three months or a little longer to recover.  Elias, the Devils’ all-time leading scorer, is likely going to start the season as the second-line center.

Rumor has it that Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher is dangling centerman Eric Belanger out to be traded.  The 31-year-old center is in the last year of his contract.  Fletcher is looking for a strong two way center who can contribute on the penalty killing unit.

The Dany Heatley situation is one that is really starting to bug me.  All parties involved need to come together and get a deal done for the sanity of the Ottawa Senators organization and for all of its fans.  No one deserves to be treated this way.  Both parties should stop being babies and just reach down deep inside and show what it means to be a PROFESSIONAL.

The most recent rumor has a potential three-way deal with the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings getting in on the fun.  The Kings’ Jarrett Stoll and Alexander Frolov would go to Ottawa, Patrick Marleau would head south to the Kings and Heatley would end up in San Jose.  Another rumor has Ottawa sending  him to the New York Rangers for Marc Staal and Brandon Dubinsky but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one happening.

Stay tuned for all future breaking news and rumors. You can follow us on twitter for daily updates.

If Dany Heatley stays in Ottawa, he may be the elephant permanently in the room.  Right now, the buzz is that the San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers are still interested and the Devils may get in on a three-way deal to help the Sharks get Heatley.  if Heatley does end up going to the Senators camp and doesn’t fully commit himself to the Sens, things could get awkward and a few fights could break out.  Senators GM Bryan Murray is going to impose a deadline on a trade, trying to avoid a long-term distractions.  Earlier this week, Murray pretty much said he’d take away the alternate captaincy from Heatley.  Meanwhile, the Senators don’t want Heatley in camp because he’ll be a distraction.  I for one am looking forward to the season beginning so this whole mess will have played out and we’ll know which new team Dany Heatley is a member of.

Detroit Red Wing Kirk Maltby doesn’t like it, but this could be his last season in the NHL.  His body isn’t what it used to be and it’s possible that age has caught up with him.  I feel that if he rehabs well from his latest round of injuries then he should still be an effective player for the next 2-3 years.  GM Ken Holland says he likes the old guys, so he will be more receptive than other GMs to having a 40-year-old on the squad next season.

Dennis Seidenberg wanted to stay in Carolina, but the Hurricanes have moved on without him so he’s still looking for a team. He’s received interest from a couple of teams, but would’ve stayed in Carolina for less.  Seidenberg is rumored to be asking for more than $3 million; he made $1.2 million last season.  But with training camp less than two weeks away, Seidenberg may be OK with a lesser deal.

After all the time Dany Heatley said he didn’t want the Senators, the team might finally be saying the same thing back.  The Sens are saying they don’t want him in camp and that could change the way negotiations have gone.  It’s going to be a total circus if Heatley shows up at camp.  Not for the players, Heatley will be the only one who has to deal with it on a daily basis.  So, without camp, Heatley might have an even smaller role — quite an ironic twist of fate.

The Dany Heatley to San Jose Sharks speculation picked up steam in a hurry after Sharks general manager Doug Wilson dumped US$4.66-million in salary by trading defencemen Christian Erhoff and Brad Lukowich to the Vancouver Canucks for prospects Patrick White and Daniel Rahimi, Wilson suggested the door was open for more trades.  Heatley has been linked to the Sharks in trade talks all summer, but they could not take on his salary because they were too close to the salary cap of US$56.7-million.  After yesterday’s trade, the Sharks have committed about US$51.5-million in cap space for next season. Heatley’s cap hit of US$7.5-million would still put San Jose over the limit, but it would be more manageable to send the difference of US$2.3-million in salary back to Ottawa in a trade.

The Sharks are also believed to have an interest in forward Phil Kessel, who has yet to resign with the Boston Bruins after becoming a restricted free agent.  Kessel has reached an impasse with the Boston Bruins.  Kessel feels like he’s worth star money and the Bruins don’t feel that he is that player.  They’re yet to be convinced that Kessel could carry a team on his own so hence the trade rumors.

Peter Forsberg was back on the ice on Thursday night in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. The 36-year-old Swedish superstar has been practising with Modo of the Swedish Elite League and Thursday he played a preseason game for his club in a 2-1 win over Geneva.  The former NHL most valuable player has also been named to Sweden’s preliminary Olympic roster of 68 players.  He has been plagued with persistent foot problems the last few years and has not played in the NHL since the 2007-08 season. In 706 career games , Forsberg has scored 249 goals and 636 assists.  Forsberg has said that if he is healthy all year he will attempt to make a NHL comeback.  If he has any kind of setback this year regarding injuries then we will not see Forsberg play in North America competitively ever again.  I for one think that he is an awesome force when healthy and would love to see him lace up his skates in the NHL once again.

A horrible start to his second season limited Gagner’s production, but he finished strong (21 points in the final 20 games) for the second season in a row, leaving some room for optimism going into next year, but he has to be able to produce right from the get-go; otherwise, the Oilers could be left in the lurch like they were last season.  Similarly, Cogliano’s production dipped slightly in his second season, but his speed makes him a threat offensively and enhances his ability as a checker.  Like the other young Oilers, though, Cogliano simply has to be better next year.  Like fellow young forwards Gagner and Cogliano, Robert Nilsson’s game slipped last season, though he had brief stretches during which he was productive.  He might be better off with a fresh start, either elsewhere or with the new coach in Edmonton.  Shawn Horcoff is ostensibly the Oilers’ number one centre, a prospect that looked much better coming off 50 points in 53 games (2007-2008) than it does coming off a season in which he scored 53 points in 80 games (2008-2009).  Horcoff is a very sound two-way player but his offensive production has ebbed and flowed since lockout, so it’s tough to count on him to anchor the top scoring unit.  On the second line, however, he may be ideal.  Perhaps the only young forward who at least met expectations, Marc Pouliot, had a solid, if unspectacular, season.  Pouliot doesn’t seem to have the offensive flair to be a top six forward, but could carve out a solid career.

When healthy, the Oilers’ blueline is a formidable group.  Lubomir Visnovsky’s season ended in early February, but he was excellent in his first season with the Oilers. His mobility and ability to move the puck helps him dictate the pace of the game and the Oilers’ push for the postseason was obviously hindered when they lost Visnovsky’s 23 minutes per game from the lineup.  Sheldon Souray’s first season in Edmonton may have been a washout, but he was an impact performer last season, scoring 23 goals to tie for second among NHL defencemen.  Souray’s point shot is devastating, no doubt, but just as important for the Oilers was that Souray was a plus player for the first time since the lockout.  25-year-old Denis Grebeshkov was one of the most improved defencemen in the league last season, emerging as a legitimate top four defenceman, particularly with Visnovsky absent in the second half of the season.  Grebeshkov’s emergence also gives the Oilers an abundance of capable offensive defenceman.

Edmonton’s penalty killing was 77.5 percent, ranking them 27th in the league.  That cost them more than 16 goals this season, only the Toronto Maple Leafs penalty killing proved more costly.  This will have to change in order for the Oilers to win a few more close games.  As I mentioned earlier they fell just short of the playoffs last season, a couple more wins and they would have been playing for a chance to win Lord Stanley’s cup.

When it comes to the goaltending situation the Oilers find themselves in decent shape.  They signed Khabibulin to take over the starting role for Dwayne Roloson who left and signed with the New York Islander’s.  So, can the Oilers hypnotize (or con) goaltender Khabibulin into believing that they have an option to dump him and void his deal after each season in his latest four-year contract?  After his reawakening in a contract year with the Chicago Blackhawks, the issue isn’t whether he has anything left; it’s his motivation.  He is 36 years old which is an improvement over Roloson who was just over 40.  Edmonton hopes he plays like he did in last years playoffs.  If he gives a repeat performance this season then the Oilers will be very competitive.  As for the backup role, Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers only got seven starts with the Oilers, with none coming from December 1 through April 9, so it’s hard to know how good he can be. Although  Drouin-Deslauriers will have a more significant backup role, with 20 starts in the plan, for next season.  This should help keep Khabibulin fresh throughout the year.

They aren’t that far away, but it’s time the Oilers went into a season with more than enough talent on hand, rather than hoping they have enough if everything works out as hoped.

Rumor has it that the top offer Alex Tanguay has received is $1.2 million.  If it’s true, it’s a fraction of the $5.375 million he made last season with the Canadiens.  The Florida Panthers were rumored to be the favorites to sign Tanguay after all the other teams reportedly dropped out.  Then the New York Islanders jumped in on the fun, and now it seems that the Tampa Bay  Lightning have as well.  Maybe Tanquay can get a bidding war started.  I’m sure that’s what he is hoping for!

The KHL appears ready to dig in their heels over Jiri Hudler.  On Thursday, the Russian league officially registered Hudler’s contract with HC Dynamo Moscow.  The 25-year-old Czech Republic native signed a two-year, $10 million offer to play in the Kontinental Hockey League on July 8 after reportedly rejecting a five-year deal worth $3 million to remain with the Detroit Red Wings.  This comes after KHL president Alexander Medvedev said the Russian league wouldn’t register Hudler’s contract until his arbitration case with the Red Wings is over — and it’s not over.  The KHL stated that they registered the contract due to the absence of a transfer agreement between the KHL and NHL, as well as the absence of a valid contract for Hudler with any NHL club.  The Russian league also stated the move was necessary to confirm that they were ready to start negotiations with the NHL on the status of restricted free agents and on any other aspects of general agreement on transfers of players between the KHL and NHL.

Here we go again, the KHL Russia’s premier league is at it again.  They’re stealing players form the NHL.  After a 16-year NHL career, Sergei Zubov is heading home as the 39-year old blueliner has signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.  Zubov, who has spent his last 12 seasons with the Stars, only played 10 games with Dallas in 2008-09 because of a hip injury that required surgery.  In those 10 contests, he recorded four assists.  Known as one of the better puck-moving defenceman and power play specialists of the last decade, Zubov has 152 goals and 619 assists in 1068 career games.  He helped the New York Rangers capture the Stanley Cup in 1994 then helped lead the Dallas Stars to their first Cup in franchise history in 1999.

Kyle Wellwood will be returning to Vancouver for a second year after the Canucks announced the signing of the centerman following his arbitration hearing.  It’s a one-year deal worth $1.2 million, a slight raise from the $1 million Wellwood earned with the Canucks last season.

The Ottawa Senators rejected a deal that could’ve rid them of disgruntled forward Dany Heatley.  The San Jose Sharks offered Jonathan Cheechoo and Christian Erhoff as part of a trade, but Sens GM Bryan Murraywas not interested.  The Edmonton Oiler’s are the only other team that really wanted Heatley.  Heatley is still holding out at his home in Kewlona, BC hoping Ottawa can accomidate his wish by trading him.  I think that Heatley is a baby, you sign a contract, you honor that contract.  It sets a terrible example of being a teammate and will create problems with future teammates who may question his commitment.  Either way Heatley has not painted a pretty picture for himself.

It is very clear that forward Dany Heately does not want to play for Senators head coach Cory Clouston.  Just prior to the NHL draft last month, Heatley requested a trade out of Ottawa through his agents, J.P. Barry and Stacey McAlpine, citing his dissatisfaction over his diminished playing time and role with the club since  Clouston took over as coach in February.  Ottawa is trying to accommodate the trade request although when one potential trade had been set up with the Edmonton Oilers, Heatley used his no trade clause to block the deal.  Talk about sending mixed messages, the guy wants to be traded and then sabotages the deal, makes no sense.  I think Heatley has been hit so many times on the ice that he may not even know his own name anymore.  Both sides in this messy, nasty dispute, which is only going to get more bitter, believe they have some leverage.  Maybe the only thing they could agree on at this point is that Heatley playing in Ottawa this season appears to be an untenable situation.  The Senators’ fans have branded Heatley public enemy No. 1.  It would be very difficult for Heatley to go back into the Sens’ dressing room and line up alongside his teammates after having demanded a trade.

Ottawa’s offense is lead by all star forwards Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and young wipper snapper Nick Foligno.    One of the Senators gaping holes is their lack of offensive skill on the blue line.  They need to revamp their defense by getting quicker and finding a good puck-mover (or two) to jump-start their attack.  The problem is that there aren’t really any of those type players available in free agency.  They drafted hulking defenceman Jared Cowen of the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs with the ninth overall pick in the draft.  Cowen, who stands six foot five and weighs 220 pounds, fills a desperate need for size on the blue-line and reminds some former Senator and current Bruins defensman Zdeno Chara.  Cowen is a stay-at-home defenseman.  The question is whether he will play the point on the power play and rack up goals at the next level or if he will just be a physical presence.  If the Senators want to find some decent defensmen they’re going to have to try to get something in a potential trade involving Heatley, otherwise next year could have the players playing golf early again because they missed the playoffs.

The Leafs are pursing swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson, the 24 year old who has NHL scout’s and GM’s drooling.  His stats from Sweden, if we follow the trend of previous goaltenders who have made the jump, point to him as an above-average NHL netminder.  As a rookie, he’ll be eligible for only an entry-level salary, so he won’t break the bank.  That’s also what makes him so attractive.  If they fail to land Gustavsson a longshot possibility is Jean-Sebastien Giguere, with whom Leafs GM Brian Burke has a prior relationship from their time together in Anaheim.  Giguere would come with a $6 million contract and that would make it almost impossible to fit him in under the salary cap.

The Leafs drafted a gifted center in Nazim Kadri.  Toronto is counting  on Kadri to make an impact in his rookie season.  Kadri outplayed his teammate and number one overall pick John Tavares in several of the London Knights’ playoff games.  Kadri has a great stick and great vision.  He’s big, lanky and skilled.  He uses his size to accentuate his puck skills.  Size, reach, stick handling ability, Kadri has the kinds of stick movements that hockey legend Mario Lemieux used to make famous.  Kadri had bad patches last season, but some of it can be ascribed to a broken jaw and weight loss in early winter.

Toronto has some snipers that they can count on like Mikhail Grabovski, Jason Blake and Alexei Ponikarovsky, but  the Leafs desperately need a top notch scorer to solidify a young offensive unit.  I know no one wants to hear it but Ottawa Senators disgruntled forward Dany Heatley could be exactly what GM Brian Burke is looking for.  If Toronto gets some decent goaltending they’ll make the playoffs.  If they get the scorer they desire they could make a run in the playoffs.